Don't Wait for the Performance Review: Steal This Strategy Series

What if your next performance problem isn't really a performance problem?What if it's a learning problem?In this episode of Steal This Strategy, I'm taking one of education's most powerful learning strategies—formative assessment—and showing you how leaders can use it to develop people, improve performance, and catch learning gaps before they become bigger problems.Teachers don't wait until the final exam to discover that a student doesn't understand. They check for understanding along the way, use what they learn to adjust instruction, provide feedback, create opportunities for practice, and gradually release responsibility as the learner becomes more capable.So why do we often do the opposite at work?We train someone once, assume they understand, and then wait for a performance review—or worse, a customer complaint or failed project—to discover that something went wrong.In this episode, you'll learn how to:• Use formative assessment to check learning while it's happening• Move beyond “Do you understand?” and ask questions that reveal what people can actually do• Use simple classroom strategies like the exit ticket in your next team meeting• Distinguish formative assessment from summative assessment• Give feedback that actually changes future performance• Avoid confusing formative assessment with micromanagement• Use a simple five-step Formative Leadership Loop: Teach → Check → Respond → Apply → ReleaseThe goal isn't to watch your employees forever. It's to give them the right support while they're learning—and then get out of the way as their confidence and independence grow.Because if your assessment doesn't change what happens next, it's probably not formative.Don't wait for the final exam. Check the learning while there's still time to change the outcome.This is Lead with Learning—where we steal what works in education and put it to work in leadership.